Tea party tempest in Idaho primary

[ccharles000]

There isn’t much of national interest on the Idaho primary ballot Tuesday, but there’s one race that’s well worth watching for a unique look into tea party movement politics — the 1st District Republican primary.

In that contest, Raul Labrador and Vaughn Ward lead a crowd of GOP candidates who are vying to take on freshman Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) — and tea party activists are deeply divided over which candidate deserves their support.

Minnick, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary, was endorsed last month by the Tea Party Express — the only Democrat in Congress to receive the national group’s support. The mid-April endorsement surprised even Minnick, who never courted the tea party support but nevertheless said he was “pleased” to have their backing.

Local activists, however, were less than thrilled with the decision. In response, the incensed local group Tea Party Boise endorsed Labrador, a state legislator with backing from several key local conservative groups. Ward has his own solid conservative grass-roots credentials: Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin came to Boise last Friday to campaign for Ward, a former Marine who directed the McCain-Palin campaign in Nevada.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37730.html